PHILADELPHIA — Montgomery County high schools are invited to participate in “Shire’s Great Food Fight! Benefitting Philabundance” and help the growing number of food-insecure families who turn to Philabundance for assistance.

Although it distributes more pounds of food each month, Philabundance expects demand to continue to increase. By collecting food during February and March, “Shire’s Great Food Fight!” comes at a time when the Philabundance inventory is typically low after holiday food drive donations have been distributed. The Shire-sponsored regional high school food drive will provide a much needed boost of non-perishable foods to those in need.

Participating schools will compete for seven prizes of $10,000, $5,000 or $1,000 while joining forces to achieve an ambitious goal: to collect 100 tons of food — the equivalent of 200,000 meals — for Philabundance over a two-week period.

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Registration is now open for this region-wide food drive. High school students, parents and faculty members are invited to participate in an informational conference call at 3 p.m. on Nov. 15 by calling 866-430-1250 and entering the participant code 14240683#.

In 2012, the second year of “Shire’s Great Food Fight! Benefitting Philabundance,” 21 schools collected 71 tons of food over the two-week competition — making it one of the most successful efforts ever to raise food in the Greater Philadelphia region.

“Hunger is not limited to those living in poverty; we’re seeing more and more middle class families coming to us and our partner agencies for help,” said Philabundance President and Executive Director Bill Clark. “The participation of students and teachers in Montgomery County is more important than ever. Together, we can make sure that no one goes to school or to bed with an empty stomach.”

Shire will award seven prizes totalling $20,000: $10,000 to the school that raises the most food as measured in pounds, $5,000 for the school that collects the most food in pounds per student and $1,000 to the school in each of the five Southeastern Pennsylvania counties that collects the most food in pounds.

The deadline for high schools to register for “Shire’s Great Food Fight! Benefitting Philabundance” is Dec. 15, 2012. The collection drive runs Feb. 25 – March 8, 2013. For more information visit http://www.philabundance.org/thegreatfoodfight.